Game variant using suited aces

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a card game variant. An opening wager is accepted from a first player. A first hand is dealt to the first player. A second hand is dealt to the second player. The first hand includes a first card and a third card. The second hand includes a second card and a fourth card. The first player is provided a first bonus based on the opening wager if the first hand is a suited aces and the second hand is not a suited aces. The first player is provided the first bonus if the first hand is a suited aces and the second hand is a suited aces and the first hand has a higher rank than the second hand.

RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION

This application claims priority from Provisional Application No. 60/657,324 filed Feb. 28, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference.

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHTS AND TRADE DRESS

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. This patent document may show and/or describe matter which is or may become trade dress of the owner. The copyright and trade dress owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright and trade dress rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to card games.

2. Description of the Related Art

Blackjack is a card game. People play blackjack for diversion, competition and profit. The goal of blackjack is to have a hand with a value as close to twenty-one as possible without being greater than twenty-one.

Blackjack is typically played among a player/dealer and up to nine other players. Each of the players plays against the player/dealer. A player/dealer is a player against whom other players may wager. The player/dealer is typically the dealer, though it is possible to have someone else, such as a designated casino employee, actually deal. In fact, a designated casino employee, agent, contractor or other person or machine may administer the game. The term administer refers to managing, directing or supervising. Players typically wager against the player/dealer prior to game play. The role of player/dealer is sometimes rotated amongst the players.

An opening wager is a wager which commences a player's participation in a game. An opening wager is required for a player to participate in a game. The opening wager may be equal to or greater than a minimum or mandatory wager. For example, a minimum wager may be $10 or other value. An opening wager does not include a side wager.

A side wager is a wager, independent from the opening wager, that a player may make. Side wagers are not required for a player to participate in a game. Side wagers are directed towards a specific outcome of the player's hand, the dealer's hand, or both the player's and dealer's hands. In blackjack games, typical rules for a side wager do not include the goal of a player having a hand with a value as close to twenty-one as possible without being greater than twenty-one.

Examples of side wagers in blackjack games include 2 Through 6, 21+3, Blackjack only, Bonanza Blackjack, Bonus Blackjack, Bonus Spin, Hi/Low, Jack Magic, Lucky Ladies, Lucky Lucky, Match the Dealer, Over/Under 13, Pair Square, Perfect Pairs, Progressive Blackjack, Royal Match, Streak, Super Sevens, Sweet 16, Tie Bet, Twin Blackjack, Wheel of Madness and High Tie Bonus Blackjack.

For the side bet Over/Under 13, a player proffers a side wager on whether the player's initial two cards have a sum value either over 13 or under 13, wherein an ace has a value of one. In the case of Over/Under 13, the player typically wins even money relative to the side wager.

However, various side wagers have different winning ratios or bonuses. For example, at one casino, if a player proffered a side wager that the player and the dealer tied or pushed, the player won 10 times the side wager.

Blackjack is typically played with several standard card decks, together forming a “multi-deck”. Multi-decks of eight, ten or twelve decks in a shoe are common. A standard card deck consists of a face value set of ace, king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three and two for each suit of hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds. A face value is an identifier which indicates a worth, utility, numerical value, or importance. The respective value for each face value is typically eleven or one, ten, ten, ten, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three and two. Although the ace may have a value of an eleven or an one, the ace is not considered to be a wild card. Thus, a standard deck has fifty-two cards.

To determine the value of a player's hand in blackjack, the value of each card in the hand is summed. Aces have a value of either eleven or one based on the player's choice. All the other cards have a value equal to their face value.

Casinos often collect a fee from each player. Often, the fee is a fixed amount based upon a range of wagers.

The player/dealer deals two cards to each player (including the player/dealer) in a clockwise direction. Typically, cards are dealt in two rounds, plus optionally one or more additional cards after the second round. The first card dealt to the player/dealer is typically dealt face down and the other cards are typically dealt face up. Thus, each player and the player/dealer initially has a two-card hand.

After receiving their two-card hand, the players and the player/dealer each decide how to play their hand. The players in turn make their decisions. The player/dealer has the last hit option. However, blackjacks are typically addressed first.

A two-card hand consisting of an ace and either a ten, jack, queen or king is a blackjack. A blackjack has the best value for a hand, twenty-one.

If the player/dealer has a blackjack, all other players typically lose. If the player has a blackjack and the player/dealer has a blackjack, the player pushes. In some casinos, the player loses when both the player and player/dealer have a blackjack.

If the player has a blackjack and the player/dealer does not have a blackjack, the player wins. In some casinos, if a player wins with a blackjack, they are paid 1.2 to 1.5 times their wager.

A player may choose to receive an additional card (“hit”) if their hand has a value of less than twenty-one. The player may continue to hit as long as their hand has a value of less than twenty-one. If an additional card results in the player's hand having a value greater than twenty-one, then the player busts or loses. Sometimes there is a limitation on hits. Sometimes if a player hits a certain number of cards, for example three cards, then the player wins regardless of the player/dealer's hand.

If the player's hand initially has a value of less than twenty-one, the player may double their wager and draw only one additional card (“double down”). Some casinos limit the double down option to certain hand values, for example, nine, ten and eleven.

If the player's hand initially has two cards with the same face value (a “pair”), the player may split the cards, make an additional wager, typically between half of to equal to the initial wager, and play two hands. An additional card will be dealt to the split cards. Each hand may then be played independently.

Provided that the player/dealer does not have blackjack and the player has not doubled down, some casinos allow the player to surrender, give up or fold after receiving the initial hand and retain 50% of their wager.

The player/dealer's decision on whether to receive one or more additional cards is typically governed by the following rules:

(1) The player/dealer must hit with a hand having a value of sixteen or less.

(2) The player/dealer must hit with a hand having an ace and a six (a “soft” seventeen).

(3) The player/dealer must not hit if the player/dealer has any other hand.

After all the players and the player/dealer have exercised the requirement or option to receive or not to receive additional cards, the value of the hand of each player is compared to the player/dealer's hand. A player wins their wager against the player/dealer if the player's hand has a total value not greater than twenty-one and closer to twenty-one than the player/dealer's hand. The player and player/dealer push or tie if the total value of their respective hands are the same. Based on whether the player wins or loses the wager, the wagers are settled.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a suited aces.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a three card twenty-six.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a blackjack variant.

FIG. 4 is a player/dealer's decision tree.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Throughout this description, the embodiments and examples shown should be considered as exemplars, rather than limitations on the apparatus and methods of the present invention.

In order to create more excitement in a game when the rules have gotten stale, variations may be introduced. A variant is a difference or alteration from a standard.

One blackjack variant includes assigning a ranking to suited aces and awarding a bonus to a winning suited aces. A suited aces is a hand wherein the initial two cards consist of two aces having the same suit. This game may be played using a multi-deck of at least two decks. The bonus for having a suited aces may be limited to certain suits. Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a representation of a suited aces 100 having two aces of diamonds 110.

Suited aces may have ranks. One ranking order may be based on the suit of the cards. The ranking order may be spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs, or other order.

If a player's hand is a suited aces and the player/dealer's hand is not a suited aces having a rank equal to or greater than the player, then the player wins. When a player who made an opening wager wins with a suited aces, the player may win a bonus based on the opening wager. The bonus for a suited aces may be 0.5, 1, 2 or other number times the opening wager. The bonus may be based upon the suit of the ace cards. For example, if the player makes an opening wager of $10 and wins with a suited aces and the bonus is 0.5 times the opening wager, then the player is provided with a winning of $15 in addition to keeping the opening wager of $10.

In some game variants, when a player wins a bonus based on an opening wager, the player is assigned the bonus. The term assign refers to transfer, specify or designate ownership of a unit.

In a blackjack game including a suited aces variant, a casino may disallow splitting of a suited aces. Additionally, if a player receives a hand consisting of two aces of different suits, a casino may provide a rule where the player is allowed to split the aces and receive only one additional card. If the additional card is another non-suited ace, then the player may be given the option to split again. In that case, the player may receive one additional card until the hit card is not a non-suited ace. At that point the option is over for the player. With regard to each split hand, if the split hand is a suited aces or a blackjack, the player may win even money relative to the opening wager or a bonus. Furthermore, the player may be prevented from splitting again. If the player wins with even money, then the bonus is zero. For example, if the player makes an opening wager of $25 and wins with even money, then the player is provided with a winning of $25 in addition to the $25 opening wager that the player keeps. The bonus may be the same as, greater than, or less than the bonus for an initial hand having a suited aces or a blackjack.

By providing a bonus based on a suited aces, passion for playing may be increased. People tend to enjoy game variants that have simple or minor changes. The ability to win a bonus encourages players to increase their wagers. Casinos can directly profit with increased gambling and increased wagering.

Another blackjack variant includes assigning a ranking to a blackjack that is lower than a suited aces, but higher than any other hand. A player winning with a blackjack hand may win a bonus based on the opening wager. The bonus for the blackjack hand may be 0.2, or other number times the opening wager. The bonus for the blackjack hand may be different than the bonus for the suited aces.

While blackjack can be varied by considering suited aces and blackjacks in this way, other variations may be used. Another blackjack variant includes the player pushing when both the player busts and the player/dealer busts with a predetermined hand. This alters the general rule that the player loses if the player busts, regardless of whether the player/dealer busts. If the player pushes, the player retains their opening wager.

One kind of predetermined hand that may be used in this variant is a three card twenty-six. A three card twenty-six is a hand of three cards which has a value of twenty-six. A three card twenty-six has a single additional card that is either a ten, a jack, a queen or a king. Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a representation of a three card twenty-six 200 having a ten of hearts 210, a six of spades 220, and a king of diamonds 230.

Other kinds of predetermined hands that may be used in this “push” variant include three card, four card, five card and six card hands. The predetermined hand may have a single value. The single value may be twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine and thirty. If the player/dealer has a three card twenty-six, then the player/dealer will, if the rules so specify, push with all players who have multiple cards totaling twenty-two to thirty. The predetermined hand may be selected based upon the odds of getting the predetermined hand. The predetermined hand may be fixed by casino management for a specific table. The predetermined hand may be selected by the player/dealer or other player. Thus, examples of predetermined hands include a four card twenty-four, a five card twenty-three, a six card twenty-five and a seven card twenty-two.

By introducing a rule that the player pushes when both the player busts and the player/dealer busts when the player/dealer busts with a predetermined hand, the player's odds of losing are decreased. The odds modification may make players believe that they have a greater chance of winning, thereby inducing the players to augment their wagers, gamble more money, player longer or play more often.

Although the description to this point has been with respect to in-person game play, card games such as blackjack may also be played using computers, over computer networks, and in other kinds of computing environments. A “computing environment” is one or more computing devices which can communicate with one another. A “computing device” is a device with a processor and memory that can execute instructions. Computing devices can be, for example, personal computers, server computers, computing tablets, set top boxes, video game systems, personal video recorders, telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers and special-purpose devices. Computing devices may run an operating system, such as Linux, Unix, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Palm OS, and Apple Mac OS X operating systems.

Game play may be enabled, managed and tracked through one or more computer software programs. In a computing environment, players (including the player/dealer) may be emulated. While cards may appear on a video display or other output device, the computing environment may maintain and manipulate data which represents the cards and the wagers.

The discussion above about “cards” applies in a computing environment, but a card in a computing environment has a visual representation separate from its value and status. A card's status could be dealt, undealt, or in a particular player's hand. Likewise, terms such a deck and multi-deck have analogous meanings in a computing environment to the non-computing environment.

Wagers are typically made with currency or representations of currency such as tokens, chips or coupons. However, wagers may be affected for any type of property including accounts, chattel paper, goods, software, information, licenses, equipment, inventory, intangibles, proceeds, and real property. Alternatively, wagers may be made for points, ranking, bragging rights, status, services or non-monetary fun such as being identified as a “winner”.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a flow chart of a suited aces blackjack variant game. The process flows that described above. At the outset, a player/dealer is selected 310. Then, the players and the player/dealer place their opening wagers 320. Then, a player is selected to receive his cards first 330. The player/dealer then deals two rounds 340. Suited aces and/or blackjacks hands are initially settled. The players in turn make their decision(s) on playing their hand (splitting, doubling down, forfeiting and hitting) 350. The player/dealer then makes his decision(s) on a hitting 360. Finally, each player's hand is compared to the player/dealer's hand, and the opening wagers are settled 370.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a decision tree for the player/dealer. If the hand is less than or equal to sixteen or is a soft seventeen 410, then the player/dealer must hit 440. Otherwise the player/dealer must stand 450.

Closing Comments

The foregoing is merely illustrative and not limiting, having been presented by way of example only. Although exemplary embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that changes, modifications, and/or alterations may be made, none of which depart from the spirit of the present invention. All such changes, modifications and alterations should therefore be seen as within the scope of the present invention.

Although many of the examples presented herein involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements, it should be understood that those acts and those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives. Acts, elements and features discussed only in connection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from a similar role in other embodiments.

As used herein, “plurality” means two or more.

As used herein, a “set” of items may include one or more of such items.

As used herein, whether in the written description or the claims, the terms “comprising”, “including”, “carrying”, “having”, “containing”, “involving”, and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of”, respectively, are closed or semi-closed transitional phrases with respect to claims.

Use of ordinal terms such as “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements.

As used herein, “and/or” means that the listed items are alternatives, but the alternatives also include any combination of the listed items. 

1. A process comprising: accepting an opening wager from a first player dealing a first hand to the first player and a second hand to a second player, the first hand comprising a first card and a third card, the second hand comprising a second card and a fourth card if the first hand is a suited aces and the second hand is not a suited aces, then providing the first player a first bonus based on the opening wager if the first hand is a suited aces and the second hand is a suited aces wherein the first hand has a higher rank than the second hand, then providing the first player the first bonus.
 2. The process of claim 1 further comprising if the first hand is a blackjack and the second hand has a lower rank than the first hand, then providing the first player a second bonus based on the opening wager.
 3. The process of claim 2 wherein the first bonus is different than the second bonus.
 4. The process of claim 3 further comprising if the first hand consists of two aces having different suits, splitting the first hand into a third hand and a fourth hand dealing a fifth card to third hand of the first player if the third hand is a suited aces or a blackjack and the third hand has a higher rank than the second hand, then providing the first player a third bonus based on the opening wager, the third bonus different than both the first bonus and the second bonus.
 5. The process of claim 4 wherein the third bonus is zero.
 6. The process of claim 1 wherein suited aces are only aces of spades.
 7. The process of claim 1 wherein the opening wager is required for dealing the first hand.
 8. The process of claim 2 wherein the opening wager does not include a side wager.
 9. The process of claim 1 further comprising: optionally dealing an additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card and the additional card equal 26, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 10. The process of claim 1 wherein a suited aces of spades has a higher rank than a suited aces of hearts, the suited aces of hearts has a higher rank than a suited aces of diamonds, the suited aces of diamonds has a higher rank than a suited aces of clubs.
 11. The process of claim 1 further comprising: optionally dealing an additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card and the additional card equal one selected from the group consisting of 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 12. The process of claim 1 further comprising: optionally dealing a first additional card and a second additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card, the first additional card and the second additional card equal one selected from the group consisting of 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 13. The process of claim 1 further comprising: optionally dealing a first additional card, a second additional card and a third additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card, the first additional card, the second additional card and the third additional card equal one selected from the group consisting of 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 14. The process of claim 1 further comprising: optionally dealing a first additional card, a second additional card, a third additional card and a fourth additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card, the first additional card, the second additional card, the third additional card and the fourth additional card equal one selected from the group consisting of 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 15. A process comprising: administering a blackjack variant game, the blackjack variant game having rules including accepting an opening wager from a first player dealing a first hand to the first player and a second hand to a second player providing the first player a first bonus based on the opening wager if the first hand is a suited aces and the second hand is not a suited aces providing the first player the first bonus if the first hand is a suited aces and the second hand is a suited aces having a lower rank than the first hand.
 16. The process of claim 15 wherein the rules further include providing the first player a second bonus based on the opening wager if the first hand is a blackjack and the second hand has a lower rank than the first hand.
 17. The process of claim 16 wherein the rules further include first bonus is different than the second bonus.
 18. The process of claim 17 wherein the rules further include splitting the first hand into a third hand and a fourth hand if the first hand consists of two aces having different suits dealing a fifth card to third hand of the first player providing the first player with a third bonus based on the opening wager if the third hand is a suited aces or a blackjack and the third hand has a higher rank than the second hand, the third bonus different than both the first bonus and the second bonus.
 19. The process of claim 18 wherein the rules further include the third bonus is zero.
 20. The process of claim 15 wherein the rules further include suited aces are only aces of spades.
 21. The process of claim 15 wherein the rules further include requiring the opening wager is required for the first player to participate in the blackjack variant game.
 22. The process of claim 16 wherein the rules further include the opening wager does not include a side wager.
 23. The process of claim 15 wherein the rules further include optionally dealing an additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card and the additional card equal 26, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 24. The process of claim 15 wherein the rules further include a suited aces of spades has a higher rank than a suited aces of hearts, the suited aces of hearts has a higher rank than a suited aces of diamonds, the suited aces of diamonds has a higher rank than a suited aces of clubs.
 25. The process of claim 15 wherein the rules further include optionally dealing an additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card and the additional card equal one selected from the group consisting of 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 26. The process of claim 15 wherein the rules further include optionally dealing a first additional card and a second additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card, the first additional card and the second additional card equal one selected from the group consisting of 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 27. The process of claim 15 wherein rules further include optionally dealing a first additional card, a second additional card and a third additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card, the first additional card, the second additional card and the third additional card equal one selected from the group consisting of 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 28. The process of claim 15 wherein the rules further include optionally dealing a first additional card, a second additional card, a third additional card and a fourth additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card, the first additional card, the second additional card, the third additional card and the fourth additional card equal one selected from the group consisting of 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 29. A storage medium having instructions stored thereon which when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform actions comprising administering a game variant, the game variant having rules, the rules including accepting an opening wager from a first player dealing a first hand to the first player and a second hand to a second player assigning the first player a first bonus based on the opening wager if the first hand is a suited aces and the second hand is not a suited aces assigning the first player the first bonus if the first hand is a suited aces and the second hand is a suited aces wherein the first hand has a higher rank than the second hand.
 30. The storage medium of claim 29 wherein the rules further include assigning the first player a second bonus based on the opening wager if the first hand is a blackjack and the second hand has a lower rank than the first hand.
 31. The storage medium of claim 30 wherein the rules further include the first bonus is different than the second bonus.
 32. The storage medium of claim 31 wherein the rules further include splitting the first hand into a third hand and a fourth hand if the first hand consists of two aces having different suits dealing a fifth card to third hand of the first player assigning a third bonus based on the opening wager if the third hand is a suited aces or a blackjack and the third hand has a higher rank than the second hand, the third bonus different than both the first bonus and the second bonus.
 33. The storage medium of claim 32 wherein the rules further include the third bonus is zero.
 34. The storage medium of claim 29 wherein the rules further include suited aces are only aces of spades.
 35. The storage medium of claim 29 wherein the rules further include the opening wager is required for the first player to participate in the game variant.
 36. The storage medium of claim 30 wherein the rules further include the opening wager does not include a side wager.
 37. The storage medium of claim 29 wherein the rules further include optionally dealing an additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card and the additional card equal 26, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 38. The storage medium of claim 29 wherein the rules further include a suited aces of spades has a higher rank than a suited aces of hearts, the suited aces of hearts has a higher rank than a suited aces of diamonds, the suited aces of diamonds has a higher rank than a suited aces of clubs.
 39. The storage medium of claim 29 wherein the rules further include optionally dealing an additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card and the additional card equal one selected from the group consisting of 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 40. The storage medium of claim 29 wherein the rules further include optionally dealing a first additional card and a second additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card, the first additional card and the second additional card equal one selected from the group consisting of 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 41. The storage medium of claim 29 wherein the rules further include optionally dealing a first additional card, a second additional card and a third additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card, the first additional card, the second additional card and the third additional card equal one selected from the group consisting of 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, then the first player retains the opening wager.
 42. The storage medium of claim 29 wherein the rules further include optionally dealing a first additional card, a second additional card, a third additional card and a fourth additional card to the second player if the sum of the values of the second card, the fourth card, the first additional card, the second additional card, the third additional card and the fourth additional card equal one selected from the group consisting of 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, then the first player retains the opening wager. 